Appreciation For Military May Be Highest Since Second World War, Harper Says

On the eve of Remembrance Day, a Canadian soldier who survived an axe wound to the head in Afghanistan says it’s important to fight for Canada’s freedoms regardless of the sacrifice it entails.

But retired Capt. Trevor Greene says it’s equally crucial to support the families of those who risk their lives – because they are often the ones responsible for their recovery.

“It means no family will be left behind,” said Greene, who was injured in March 2006 when he and other members of the Canadian military were meeting with village elders north of Kandahar.

Greene said it was his daughter Grace, now 4 1/2, who gave him to strength to push through a near-impossible recovery.

He remains behind the Afghanistan mission despite the personal toll it has taken on him, however, and has a clear message for his daughter: “We have to fight for what’s good and keep our freedoms precious” – regardless of the consequences.

Greene was one of the soldiers being honoured Tuesday night at the True Patriot Love Foundation gala dinner in Toronto, a charity event to raise money for the Canadian Military Families Fund.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who spoke at the event, said he was happy to see public expressions of support for Canada’s troops and their families flourish across the country in recent years.

“Public appreciation for our military may be higher today than at any time since the Second World War,” said Harper.

“We have seen that love and loyalty expressed in countless other ways by groups and individuals from coast to coast to coast.”

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk said events that acknowledge the danger soldiers put themselves in every day help bolster those fighting overseas, because it shows them the people at home appreciate the huge risks they take.

“Men and women are in harm’s way and they’re there for the defence of Canada and the question in their mind, as I was on tour many years, you wonder, do Canadians really appreciate what those men and women are doing?” he said.

“The very fact we’re doing this (type of event) …. the folks in theatre watching this are realizing that Canadians appreciate their service and sacrifice. It’s huge.”

Greene was ambushed by a young villager when, in a gesture of respect for their hosts during the meeting, the soldiers removed their helmets.

To his doctors’ astonishment, Greene survived the blow, as well as a coma, bouts of pneumonia and a blood clot.

His fiancee Debbie Lepore was told he would be mentally incapacitated and should be placed in a long term care facility.

But Greene has regained the ability to speak and some use of his arms, and while he’s confined to a wheelchair, he vows to walk down the aisle in July.

Speaking to the gathering Tuesday night, he recalled how Natynczyk told him a day earlier, after he received his Sacrifice Medal, that his new mission was to get well.

“It’s my intent to walk into your office some day, shake your hand, and say mission accomplished, sir.”

The Canadian Military Families Fund was set up in 2007 by retired Gen. Rick Hillier to support military families in crisis.